All's Fair in Hell and War
by FlatFox
Summary: Living with Cruella de Vil is never easy.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is based around my first story, Scars Appear.**

 **Please note: I have tried to write everything as accurately as possible. I am not trying to offend anyone! If you have a problem with something I've written, please PM me.**

 **Further note: This is NOT Jaylos. If you would like to read it as such, fine by me. But this was never intended to be Jaylos nor will it ever be.**

 **Trigger warnings. This applies for the whole story, but I will try to remember to write it at the beginning of each chapter.**

 **P.S. This is a working title and may be changed eventually.**

 **Enjoy!**

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"Carlos, dear, are you finished washing the floors?" Cruella de Vil asked her son sweetly, glancing at him like a hawk.

"Yes, mother," Carlos replied, hoping against hope the floors were to his satisfaction. He didn't know if he could go more than four more days without food.

Cruella closed in on him, grabbing his chin with her tallons and forcing it upward. "Not. Good. Enough," she spat in his face. She let go of his chin only to slap him across the face hard enough to knock him to the floor.

"Yeah, not good enough," his voices spoke mockingly. "Do better next time or things might get worse," one warned.

"When you're done with that," her voice had become sweet again, "you can scrub all the cupboards. Oh, and no eating tomorrow. I'm sorry, dear, but that's what happens when children misbehave." She left the room.

"Get up, get up, get up, GET UP!" the voices screamed. Carlos closed his eyes, gathering his strength, then stood. The effort was exhausting, but he needed to keep going.

His mother poked her head into the doorway. "Oh, by the way, I'm going out. There's a little list on the safe of all the chores I want you to accomplish." Suddenly her voice was menacing. "You better be done by the time I get back." And she was gone as quickly as she had come. "Ta-ta!" Carlos heard her call cheerfully, and then the door slammed shut behind her.

"You better do those chores," one of the voices stated.

"Hey." Carlos turned to see Jay standing behind him. "You ok?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Well, I'm done stealing for today."

"It's only noon!"

"Noon," the voices spoke, overlapping each other. "It's not noon yet. What is noon? He's done stealing? We need fooood. Haven't eaten in four days."

Jay's voice came through the fog of voices. "I got up early. Couldn't sleep anyway." He shrugged. "So I figured I should get up, finish my job, and then I'd be able to hang out. What's on the list today?"

"Dunno. Haven't looked yet. It's on the safe." Carlos turned to the sink and began refilling the water bucket for scrubbing the floors as Jay went to go find the list.

A voice decided to interject its thoughts. "Clean that floor..."

"It says here..." Jay began, then paused. "I think she's setting you up for failure, man. I honestly don't know if it's humanly possible to accomplish this much work in half a day."

"You got any food?" The question surprised Carlos more than Jay.

Jay searched his pockets. "Here." He pulled out a chunk of bread.

"You sure I can have it?" The question was hesitant.

"Ooh, food!" The voices began to get excited. "Take it. Take it!"

"Take it." Jay shoved the bread into Carlos's hand. Suddenly he froze, looking at the inside of Carlos's arm. "Did she do this?" His voice was low with threatening anger.

"Run," the voices warned. "You don't want him to know. This is your fault. Run away."

"Some of it." The smaller boy shrugged it off. "It's nothing."

Jay was persistant. "What about the others."

"Run away," the voices called.

Carlos turned away. "I made them," he replied quietly, looking down at his arm.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think.**

 **If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I'm always up to new ideas :)**

 **-FlatFox**

 **P.S. It gets better!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm baack! (Get the reference?)**

 **This chapter has a special guest... some writing from Scars Appear! So enjoy!**

 **Trigger warnings.**

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"Why did you never tell me?"

Carlos spun around. "What would you have done? No one can help me."

"Yeah, Jay," the voices echoed.

"Oh, hell, Carlos..." Jay straightened suddenly. "I think we need a meeting. Evie's place. Her mother is the calmest." He turned to leave.

"The chores! The chores!" The voices began to panick. "What is she going to do now?"

"Wait!" Carlos cried. "I have chores and if I don't finish them, no meeting in the world will stop my mother."

Jay sighed. "All right. I'll get the others and we'll all help you. Maybe we'll be done early enough to have the meeting."

"So what is this meeting exactly?" Mal asked after they had settled into Evie's bedroom, exhausted from all the chores they had finished.

"Shut up, Mal!" one of the voices shrieked. Carlos rolled his eyes.

Jay sighed. "I think we shouldn't be keeping secrets from each other anymore. I think we all know our parents abuse us in their own ways. But I think it would be good for all of us to know."

The muttering of the voices grew. "I'm not telling anyone," one stated.

"I think we're fine. I'm not telling anyone anything." Mal crossed her arms. "Besides, what good would it do us?"

A flicker of rage passed over Jay's face. "Because after what I saw," he replied, his voice low with supressed anger, "I think we need to know. I'll go first."

He quickly looked down, then back up. "My father beats me. Sometimes it's with his fists. But usually it's with whatever he can get his hands on. It doesn't matter what. When he plans things out, he likes to whip me."

"Whaaat," a voice deadpanned. "Better than bear traps."

"Why?" Mal asked.

"If I don't steal enough to make him happy. Well...that's about it. Does anyone want to go next?"

Evie raise a tentative hand. "I'll go." She looked down at her hands twisted in her lap. "She's contantly telling me I'm not beautiful enough. Not good enough. Not perfect enough. I'm ugly. Useless. No one would ever want me."

Mal pulled Evie into a hug. "That's not true, you know. You're the most amazing person I've ever met. And you're so beautiful."

Evie nodded, trembling. "She says I'm fat. She never gives me enough to eat, but some days she decides I am getting too fat and she starve me.

"I wanted a release for the pain. I wanted too hurt myself. But I can't." A sob escaped her lips. "About once a week, she makes me stand in front of her completely naked and she examine me to see if I'm beautiful enough. I never am, of course, but because of this I could never hurt myself. One time I made one tiny cut where I though she'd never find it. She did find it and I was forbidden from eating for a week."

"Starvation has become my physical pain. I focus in on it, using it to still the mental pain. It's become as much a triumph to me as to my mother." She shrugged as if to say she was finished and leaned into Mal.

"She wants to hurt herself!" The voices interjected wildly. "Stop talking. It will hurt things."

Mal sighed, glared a little at Jay, and then began, "I'm never good enough for my mother. I think it's probably safe to say that it's true for all of us." Her head jerked upward. "I can never be evil enough for her. I could never do things right. I was expected to follow what she said exactly. No hesitation. Just perfection." She spit the words out quickly.

"I was always failing her. Sometimes it's a slap across the face. If she's mad, she beats me with her staff, screaming that I'm a failure and disgrace."

She paused and one tear slid down her cheek. "And then there are the times when she is furious. She locks me in her dungeon for days. My arms tied to the ceiling, my toes barely touching the ground."

A voice commented solemnly, "Not good."

"This has happened more than once?" Jay asked, concerned.

"Yes. This has happened more than once." She shoved her sleeves up and showed the insides of her arms. They were littered with scars. Some obviously self-inflicted.

Carlos's mind screamed and he jerked backward. Jay looked at him, concerned, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. But it was too late. Everything faded. He was in his closet-bedroom pulling out the blade and, without hesitation, drawing it across his arm. He watched as the thin line of his blood appeared. Lying there in pleasure, he enjoyed the pain he had inflicted on himself, the ghost of a smile reaching his lips. The voices faded, almost becoming nonexistent. And then a dead calm came over him. Calm so intense it was almost otherworldly.

"Carlos!" His mother shrieked up the stairs. "The dishes need to be washed and they're not going to wash themselves!"

He struggled to find the motivation to stand. When he stumbled down the stairs, his mother was standing at the bottom, watching him like a hawk, cigarette in hand.

"Oh I see you've added another one," his mother sneered when he reached her. She pressed her cigarette onto his newest cut. His mind exploded from the sensation and he nearly gasped from the pain. Pleasure and pain clashed in his brain, causing his head to throb wildly. The voices began clamoring; talking and screaming and ordering. He was barely able to make out his mother's voice; "What are you standing there for? Go wash the dishes!" The voices lowered to grumbles and orders to wash the dishes or he'll be eaten by a dog.

"The ones right here," Mal pointed to the ones on her wrist closest to her palms. "Those are from the ropes."

Carlos stiffened, jerking back into the present.

"Are you ok?" Mal asked, worry clouding her eyes.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Carlos replied. Jay looked at him, raising his eyebrows.

"Your turn." Mal commanded.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you would like. I appreciate any comments or feedback you may have.**

 **P.S. I'm not going to make it a habit to update every single day. Whenever I have enough material I will post a new chapter.**

 **-FlatFox**


	3. Chapter 3

**Again, if you are offended, please PM me. I am doing my best to be accurate.**

 **Trigger warnings.**

* * *

Carlos shot a pleading glance at Jay, but he only glared back.

"Go on," Jay told him.

"My mother makes me do all the chores around the house." Carlos shrugged. "And she hurts me, yeah."

"Lame," a voice stated, casually.

Jay barked out a short, harsh laugh. "Show them."

"No."

"Show them, or I will."

Carlos glared, then tentatively pushed his sleeves up. Mal and Evie gasped. Jay took in all the scars, then glanced up at the ceiling, clearly trying not to show just how upset he was.

A voice screeched, "Why did you do that?"

"So yeah." Carlos pushed his sleeves down quickly.

Mal wasn't ready to drop the subject. "Those aren't all from her...?"

"No. They aren't. I'm fine."

"You are not. Fine."

"Yeah well judging by your arms, you aren't so fine either. Some of those are new."

"Hey," Evie interjected. "Chill you guys." She and Jay shared a look. "Do we all want to sleep together tonight? Carlos?"

"She won't care. The house is clean, so she won't notice I'm gone."

"All right."

"In the meantime," Jay decided, "we can sit on the roof and look out over the water. Maybe something is happening in Auradon." He stood, and the others followed suit.

...

When Carlos got home early the next morning, his mother was already up and in a rage.

"SHUT UP!" his mother shrieked, grabbing the nearest pan and hurling it across the room. "Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!"

She turned around. "Oh and Cameron, dear, the kitchen is a mess. I would like it cleaned if you don't mind terribly." She grabbed his arm with a talon-like grip and jerked him towards her. She slapped him. Hard. "What the HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" she screamed in his face, spit flying everywhere. Her fingernails dug into his arm. With the other hand, she stroked his hair. Carlos froze, heart pounding wildly. He could taste the terror.

He couldn't move. She brought her hand to his cheek and caressed it.

But then suddenly she let go and was gone. Carlos's legs collapsed under him in relief and he fell to the floor, head down, willing himself not to cry. A crash was heard in a different room, accompanied by more screams and some swearing.

"Clean the kitchen, you fool!" a voice shrieked.

"Yeah, whatever, Shane," he muttered to the voice.

It sputtered indignantly. "Excuuse me!"

"Well you don't need to make things worse."

"But it's so much more fun!"

"Where's Ro when we need her?"

"How am I supposed to know. I only keep myself."

Carlos rolled his eyes and stood, bending down to pick up the pot his mother had thrown. He looked around the kitchen. Uncooked noodles were everywhere.

"What the heck." He shook his head at the thought of his mother doing this, and then found a broom.

"It looks horrible! Pick it up! Pick it up!"

"Shane. Shut. Up."

"I can say whatever I want whenever I want."

"Clearly." He began sweeping.

"Poor Evie," another voice stated.

Carlos smiled. "Hey, Ro."

"Heyo! You need to be careful," Ro began thoughtfully.

"DESTROY THE MORTALS!" Shane screamed.

"Do you mind?!" Ro sounded annoyed. "Can I hurt him?"

"No!" Carlos was louder than he would have liked to be. "No," he whispered.

"Ok, ok, back off," Ro replied. Carlos swept the noodles into a dustpan and then poured the noodles from the dustpan into an empty jar.

Shane interjected, "I honestly wouldn't mind."

"Stop it, Shane. You are not hel..." he trailed off as Mal stormed through the door, slamming it shut. Her face was white and her lips were in a thin line.

She stopped. "Who were you just talking to?"

"I wasn't," he lied easily.

She pushed it aside. "Emergency meeting. Now." She grabbed his arm and began pulling him.

Carlos resisted. "Wait. But does the kitchen look clean?"

She barely looked around. "Fine," she replied shortly. "Come on." She all but dragged him out the door.

"What's the big rush?" Carlos asked jogging to keep up with Mal's pace.

"Jay has been keeping secrets from us, so I'm calling another meeting."

"Didn't you just protest this when Jay made us do this same thing yesterday?"

"Shut up."

Shane laughed. Carlos smirked.

When Mal and Carlos got to the hideout, Jay and Evie were already there. Carlos had never seen Jay look so upset and depressed.

Mal didn't even bother to sit down. "You were the one who fucking made us all tell all our secrets. And here you are keeping secrets from us! What the hell is this?" she spat.

"M," Evie pulled Mal down to sit next to her. "Calm down."

"Calm her down! Make her stop!" one of the voices called.

Carlos sat cross-legged between Mal and Jay. "What's up?"

Mal glared across at Jay. "He didn't tell us everything." Suddenly she whipped her head towards Carlos. "And I don't think you are either. I'm not falling for your lies."

"She knows! Lock down the forts!" a voice screamed.

Evie stirred slightly. "M, one at a time."

Carlos glanced at Jay. His head was down, but Carlos could still catch a glimmer of a single tear that had traced down his cheek.

"What the hell is going on?" Carlos spat.

Mal stared, her mouth slightly open. "Carlos!"

"Language, Carlos," Ro reminded.

"Oh, please."

"Jay," Mal ordered. "Tell them." Her voice softened. "Or I will."

* * *

 **As always, reviews are much appreciated.**

 **-FlatFox**


	4. Chapter 4

**WARNING: Very high trigger warning for cutting. Please be careful!**

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Jay kept his head down and said nothing.

"Jay?" Mal asked. "Do you want me to tell them?"

There was no answer.

Mal sighed.

"His father... his FATHER that low down stupid, sneaky, son of a-"

"Mal!" Carlos stopped her right there.

"He... has been..." A sob choked out of her, but no tears fell. "His father has been selling him to pay off his debts."

Carlos shifted uncomfortably and Evie gasped, putting her hands to her mouth. Jay did not move.

"Jay?" Evie asked quietly.

He looked up sharply. "Now that you know, can I go now?" He shot a death glare at Mal.

Carlos had never seen Mal look so upset and heartbroken.

"Jay..." She began, but he was already gone. She stood and followed him.

Evie looked at Carlos, her eyes filled with tears. "The roof?"

He nodded and stood, holding out his hand to help her up. She reached out a trembling hand to take his and stood. Then suddenly she was hugging him, softly crying. He wrapped his arms around her, trying to be strong.

They climbed the roof together and sat watching the sunset, leaning against each other.

"Did you know?" Evie whispered.

"No."

They sat in silence for a long time. Just being there for each other.

Evie looked down at Carlos's arm and began tracing the scars with a soft finger.

"I wish I had some," she looked wistfully at the scars.

Carlos looked away. "No. You don't."

After a while, he continued, "It's not just the scars, Evie. There's addiction that goes with it."

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does. Evie," he paused. "Don't ever do it. Promise me?"

"My mother would kill me anyway," Evie laughed a tense laugh, filled with regret.

Carlos tried to smile.

"It's time," the voice that sounded like his mother rang through his head. Carlos stiffened.

 _No, Ela_ , he thought fiercely. _Not now._

"Do what I say."

 _I won't. Not this time._

Evie was looking at him strangely. "Are you ok?"

"Fine," he answered shortly, before screaming out in his head, _Ro!_ There was no answer. Not that he expected there to be one. She rarely showed up at times like this. He felt so alone.

"You need to do it."

"Evie," Carlos turned to her, distracting himself. "What's the worst thing your mom's ever done to you?"

He never heard her answer. The fight in his head was talking all his concentration.

"The time is now. Obey me. You know it will be so easy. Feel so good."

 _SHUT UP!_

"Find your knife, Carlos. It's so much easier to give in."

 _I can't_ , he whispered. _I can't._

"It's not going to hurt anybody. No one will know. You don't have to tell anyone."

 _No._

"The knife! Make yourself bleed! The power is yours."

He realized Evie had stopped talking. "I need to go find Jay."

He barely heard Evie call out to him.

When he had gotten away to a secluded place, he stopped, shoved up his sleeve, and pulled out his knife. As if in a trance, he held the knife over the inside of his arm.

"Draw the knife across, there's a good boy. Do what I ask and I won't hurt you."

And suddenly it was over. The new lines crossed over his old ones, slowly bleeding. Carlos shut his eyes, as the guilt and shock hit him hard. He had done it again.

He needed to leave this spot. He stumbled away, pulling down his sleeve and deftly hiding his knife from view, leaving the few drops of blood on the ground where he had stood.

Only when he was certain, absolutely certain, he was tucked away where no one could find him, he collapsed. He hadn't realized just how stiff his body was, and it was that realization that finally caused the tears to appear. Suddenly, his face was soaked. He curled into himself, shaking slightly.

Suddenly, Carlos realized it was silent. The voices had stopped their usual chatter. Even they had abandoned him. Though he had always wished they would be silent, he suddenly realized how much he missed them. Missed their comments, even their sneers. He had never felt so alone. The loneliness spread, consuming his entire body with an ache that almost physically hurt.

"Hey." The word was soft and comforting, but Carlos jumped at the word. He lifted his head to see Jay crouching near him, concern in his eyes. "What's up?"

Carlos stood, and Jay mirrored him. "I'm fine," he replied softly, moving to walk past Jay.

"No." Jay shifted so he was blocking Carlos from leaving. "Tell me what's wrong." The words were gentle and kind.

The smaller boy shoved his sleeve up, revealing the inside of his arm. Jay looked down at the bared arm. "A knife is just a knife until you pick it up," Jay began slowly. "Without you, a knife is powerless. It's nothing. Worthless. Ever tried standing a knife up on its own? It can't stand unless you're holding it there or you push it into something."

Jay pulled Carlos into a hug, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy protectively. "You know, you could have actually gone to find me."

"I can't control it."

"Evie was really worried."

"We all have our own things to worry about."

"No. We're family. We work through things together."

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 **In case you were wondering, this is not the end! I have plans...**

 **Reviews are much appreciated!**

 **-FlatFox**


	5. Chapter 5

**So...I wrote this...**

 **Major trigger warning!**

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Carlos liked to sit on the roof to his house. It gave him time to think and a place where he could safely talk, out loud, to his voices.

This time only Ro was there, which Carlos didn't mind. Shane could get annoying and, well, anytime Ela showed up things did not end well.

He had been talking to Ro for about an hour when suddenly he heard another voice.

"I've been listening to you have a one-sided conversation with no one for ten minutes now." Mal appeared from nowhere. "What is going on?" She sat down next to him.

Carlos opened his mouth, then shut it again. There was no escaping this.

"I was talking...to Ro."

"Who the hell is Ro?"

"She's one of my people. There are four. Currently. Myself, of course; Ro; Shane; and Ela."

"Your people?"

"Yeah..."

"Could you please elaborate?"

"Well there's me, and I'm pretty much like me, except probably a bit more negative. Shane is the goofy, slightly negative one. Ro is amazing. She's my favorite because she's the only one who has never tried to hurt me."

"Hurt... you?"

"Yeah. The last one is Ela. I'm pretty sure her name is short for Cruella, but she never sticks around for me to have conversation with her. All she ever does is convince me to put a knife to my skin."

"So basically you have imaginary people you talk to and blame all your problems on. You're just as insane as your mother."

Carlos felt like he had been punched in the stomach.

He got up and left.

"Carlos..." he heard her call almost apologetically. He did not turn around.

 _Of course she doesn't believe me,_ he thought bitterly. _I'm just as insane as my mother. My own friend doesn't believe me. What have I become?_ It felt like a knife had been stabbed painfully into his chest, making it hard to breathe from the pain.

"Maybe you are as insane as me," Ela hissed in his ear. The knife in his chest twisted painfully.

He dodged the bear traps in his "room" and threw himself onto his mattress. No one cared. No one ever cared. His mother certainly didn't. The hurt, the loneliness, the emotions welled up inside him. He reached for his box.

He did not want to live. The realization came to him suddenly, but not surprisingly. He lay there. Not wanting to move. Not wanting to live. The absolute misery surrounded him. He felt like the world had gone dark.

Again he reached for his box and pulled out a small, sharp knife. He looked at it, contimplaing its beauty. Admiring it for what it had done and what it was about to do.

"The knife has no power without you. It is nothing. Worthless." Jay's words rang through his head, but he was already too deep. Too far into the dark hole of his misery.

He held the knife over the scars of his left arm. So many scars. He looked them over one last time, stories flashing through his mind. The scars told nothing but failure. His own weakness and his mothers cruelty. He never wanted to see those scars again.

And suddenly he was slashing at his arm, deeper than he had ever gone before. The blood loss made him feel faint, but he kept going.

And then it was over. The knife dropped from his hand and he lay back, fading from consciousness. He struggled to stay awake, but finally the darkness overtook him.

* * *

 **Please review!**

 **Thank you to Niffler.01 for the kind reviews!**

 **-FlatFox**


	6. Interlude: Jay

**So I started writing this, but accidentally deleted it all. However, I think it was for the best because it turned out better than before.**

 **And here it is...**

 **Trigger warnings.**

* * *

Jay was trying to decide on the best way to steal someone's hat when Mal rushed up to him. He had never seen her so white. It looked like all the blood had been drained from her. Jay thought she was going to faint.

"Come quick..." she gasped out. "Carlos...dead..."

And Jay was ahead of her, running towards the de Vil house, heart pounding in his chest. And then Mal was with him, just as fast.

They thundered up the stairs to Carlos's room, but Mal put out an arm to stop him in the doorway.

Evie was already there, sitting next to Carlos's lifeless form, gently wiping the blood from him. Blood was everywhere.

"No," Jay whispered, barely feeling the tears streaming down his face. The pain of losing Carlos left an ache so painful it left him gasping for breath.

Mal clung to him, sobbing. "It's my fault," she cried. "He told me... he told me he hears voices and ...I said that... he's just probably just as insane as his mother." She buried her face against him.

Jay felt like he had been stabbed in the chest. His legs gave out under him and he and Mal fell to the ground.

"Jay, give me your shirt." Evie held out her hand to him.

"I...what?!"

"He's not dead, you guys." She paused, and then continued fiercely, "But he will be if you don't give me something to use as a bandage. He's still bleeding."

Jay numbly dislodged Mal, who was sobbing in relief, to take off his shirt.

Mal gasped in horror at what she saw.

"Now is not the time," Jay told her gently. "We have more important things to worry about. Like Carlos not dying."

"Someone should probably tell Cruella." Evie barely glanced up from her work.

"Jay, you want to do that together?" Mal asked, wiping away some of her tears.

He looked to Evie. "You good?"

"Yeah I'll be fine. Go down and wait for her."

Jay grabbed his jacket and put it on, before standing and offering Mal his hand. She took it and stood, then following him downstairs.

When Cruella walked in the house, Mal and Jay were waiting for her.

"Carlos is almost dead." Mal told her bluntly.

Cruella, to Jay's surprise, gasped in horror.

"My poor puppy! Where is he?!" she wailed.

Jay glanced at Mal. The fact that Cruella called Carlos "her puppy" scared him more than he liked to admit. They both knew what happened to any puppies Cruella got her hands on.

Mal led the way to Carlos's room. When Cruella saw him, she sank to her knees next to him. "My poor puppy," she crooned, stroking his hair and his face, twisting her fingers in his hair and suddenly Jay was far away, somewhere he didn't want to remember. Someone was on top of him, pinning him down and he was suffocating from the terror and the pain. He needed to run. Get away. But the man was too strong...

With a huge mental effort, he pulled himself out. The tenseness left his body and he almost collapsed. _Focus_ , he told himself fiercely.

Mal looked at him, concerned. "What's up?" she whispered.

He shook his head in response.

"Take care of my little puppy for me!" Cruella sailed out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her, for once.

Evie looked up at both of them. "What's wrong?"

They both sat next to her. "Something's not right." Jay glanced at Carlos.

"She calls him her little puppy." Mal told her.

Evie looked worried. "Yeah... I noticed that."

"And... the way she touched him..." Jay whispered.

Mal's guard went up instantly. "What is it?"

"...not...right," Jay mumbled.

Mal looked at him. "Is that... they touch you like that?"

Jay nodded, looking at the floor.

"Shit," Mal swore angrily. "We need to watch him. We'll take turns. Then when he wakes up, one of us will be there. Plus then his mother can't do anything to him."

"It can't be me first," Evie replied, looking at them. "I need to go back to my mother's house. I didn't grab anything when Mal came to get me. I need clean cloth and some stuff I can borrow from my mother."

"I'll stay first," Mal decided. "It's my fault anyway," she leaned against Evie, the pain in her eyes showing through the tears.

Evie hugged her. "I'll be back." She knelt next to Carlos and softly kissed his cheek. Then, rising gracefully, she quietly exited the room.

Jay hesitated to leave, not wanting to abandon Mal.

"Go," she whispered. "You do have a job to do. And I don't want anything to happen to you if you can't bring in enough money to settle Jafar's debts..."

Jay felt a rush of gratitude for her. "Thanks. I'll be back in a while to take over." He hugged her, before standing and leaving.

...

When Jay got back, he found Mal sitting, head down, tears dripping onto her lap.

"Hey," he called softly.

She looked up. "Hey." She stood and then hugged him, still crying.

"How is he?"

"Evie says he should be ok."

"Good. Now go. Get some rest."

She shuffled out the door and Jay sat down next to Carlos. He watched him for a few minutes.

"So, you gave us quite the scare. Why would you go that deep?" He sighed. "I don't know if you can hear me. I don't know if it matters. Maybe this is more for me than you. But please come back. I miss you. We all miss you."

Jay sat there for an hour. Sometimes talking. Sometimes doing nothing but sitting there.

And then he heard a groan.

* * *

 **Did I trick you?! Did you think he was dead? ;)**

 **Please leave a review and tell me what you thought!**

 **Thank you to Millie333 for all of the wonderful ideas!**

 **-FlatFox**


	7. Chapter 7

**Just a note... While this chapter doesn't mention the voices much, they are there. They're talking to him, but he's not listening, so that's why they're not described.**

 **Trigger warnings?**

* * *

Carlos groaned at the voices chattering on and on in his head. "Stop all talking at once!" he mumbled. "Stop it. It's not funny."

"Carlos?"

His eyes fluttered open, and he winced at the brightness. Suddenly, with a feeling of stabbing regret, he realized he wasn't dead.

Then he noticed Jay.

"Jay. Who... found me?"

"Mal. You were in pretty rough shape. We thought you were dead. Why would you go that deep?"

"Jay."

He looked at him.

"I wanted to die."

"Carlos..."

"She didn't believe me. She said I was lying. And then there's everything else... Jay, she said I'm as insane as my mother."

"What did she say you were lying about?"

"My people."

"Your people?"

"There are people who talk to me. Four of them. No one else can hear them. Most of them, one especially, try to get me to do things I don't want to do. Mal thought I was lying when I told her." He stopped talking, but then asked the question that had been haunting him for years. "Am I insane?"

Jay laughed. "Far from it! You're one of the most sane people I know."

"Even though I have my people?"

"Who cares? So you have more people to talk to. Just tell me if they're trying to hurt you."

"Jay?"

"Hmm?"

"How do you do it? How do you not..." he gestured hopelessly, "hurt yourself."

Jay sighed and peeled off his gloves, revealing the skin underneath. Carlos gasped in shock. Cleverly hidden beneath the gloves were many, many scars, one on top of another. "It's the only place," he said simply.

"Does Mal...?"

"No one knows."

Carlos's eyes began to get heavy. "I...need... sleep..." he murmered.

Voices drifted in and out of his head and he struggled to pick out and focus on a real one. When he finally managed to open his eyes, he saw Mal sitting next to him. He immediately closed his eyes and rolled over so his back was facing her.

"'Los?" She sounded hesitant and sad. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Please talk to me," she pleaded.

Carlos did not move. He was in no mood to talk to her.

Evie's gentle voice came through. "Just let him be. He'll come around."

He was exhausted for days. Not just physical exhaustion. His mind was so tired. And there was the depression. The depression was just as bad as before. Weighing him down. He did not want to move.

Jay stayed with him a lot, keeping watch.

"Jay?"

"Hm?"

"What was my mother's reaction?"

"Well, she was shocked and asked to see you."

Carlos's eyes widened in disbelief

"And she called you her poor puppy..." He paused for a long time. "And was touching your hair... and face," he finished, his face twisted in pain.

Carlos's heart dropped. "Of course," he whispered.

"You want to talk about it?"

"Do you want to talk about yours?"

Jay looked away. Carlos smirked slightly. His point had been made.

"How's my mother getting along without me doing the chores?"

"Well," Jay hesitated. "She hasn't. We've been doing them."

"Shit, why didn't you tell me?" He started to get up.

Jay pushed him back. "And this is why none of us told you. You need to rest."

"I'm fine! Let me up. Seriously."

Jay relented a little. "All right. But you can't do any chores yet."

Carlos stood, Jay mirroring him. His vision went black for a second and his head spun wildly, but he kept his footing.

"I'm fine," he told a worried Jay confidently. "And I'm sure I can do chores, too."

Jay looked at him, hard. "Well, ok," he finally gave in. "But we're helping you."

"What's on the list today?"

"I don't know. Let's check the safe."

They trooped downstairs, and the first thing Carlos saw was Mal, rushing around cleaning frantically.

"I don't know how you do it, Carlos," she panted. "She is insane." Then she bit her lip and looked at Carlos anxiously. "Sorry..."

"Nah, it's fine. She is insane. I won't deny that."

"But you aren't," she replied hesitantly.

Carlos smiled. "Thanks. Now where's that list?" He walked over to the safe. "Come on, Jay, let's do something so Mal doesn't have to do it all."

The chores were easily done with the three of them working. Carlos was tired, but was happy to be doing something productive again.

"Guys, I'll be fine. You don't have to stay the night. Seriously, you've done enough for me."

Mal nodded, looking absolutely exhausted. "Ok. Bye, Carlos." She lightly kissed his cheek and then stumbled out the door.

Jay looked at Carlos, concerned. "What if she attacks you?"

"She's not going to. I'll be fine."

"But... she..."

"I'll be ok."

"Carlos..." He looked almost pleading.

"I can handle it."

Jay was caving in. "You sure?"

"Yeah."

"All right." He reached out towards Carlos's hair and Carlos froze, his heart pounding wildly. Jay snatched his hand back. "Sorry," he said miserably.

"It's ok," Carlos replied.

And then Jay was gone. It was all silent. Carlos glanced around the semi-dark kitchen, then shuffled to the safe to get some food. Nothing looked good, but he chose something that he thought would most agree with his stomach. He got a plate and began eating at the counter.

Then he heard a door slam.

He froze.

Food in hand.

Standing at the counter.

Footsteps rang through the house.

Keys jingled.

A door slammed.

He

could

not

move.

And then the door to the kitchen opened.

And Cruella was standing in the doorway.

"You worthless thing," she spat, bearing down on him.

He backed into the kitchen counter, trying to keep her at some sort of distance.

Suddenly, she had a knife and Carlos's mind screamed at the sight of it. She had him pinned against the counter. He couldn't move.

She took his arm. His right arm. And began cutting it with the knife. But they weren't just cuts, Carlos realized, through the pain. They were letters. And, quite suddenly, everything went black.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review and let me know what you think Cruella just carved into Carlos's arm... I'm interested to know what you think. (Also any normal reviews are also much appreciated.)**

 **-FlatFox**

 **P.S. Almost daily updates on this story are on my author page. So if you're interested, check it out :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**And here we have...another chapter.**

 **Trigger warnings?**

* * *

The shock that he still wasn't dead hit him when he consciously heard the voices for the first time.

"What did she write?" he mumbled.

He heard a gasp.

"He's awake!" Someone... Evie?.. shushed some of the others.

"What did she write?" he asked again.

Someone laughed. "You're not going to find out until you open your eyes."

"But I don't want to," Carlos whined.

"So?"

"You don't want to what?"

Carlos sighed. "Open my eyes?"

"You don't need to if you don't want to."

"Yes, you do."

"She wrote... uh... 'puppy'."

Carlos snorted softly. "She did not."

"Ok, she didn't."

"Didn't what?"

"Write that," Carlos replied impatiently. "Can't you hear the first time?"

"No. You're talking to people I can't hear."

Carlos ventured to open his eyes. They were very heavy and he struggled to keep them open.

"Where am I?"

Evie sighed. "When Jay found you, he carried you to Mal's house who went off to find me and then to find a hideout. This is it. Where we're safe. And I swear, Mal is never letting you out of her sight again at this rate."

"Oh."

Then he remembered. He looked down at his arm. It was bandaged.

"Take it off. I want to see."

Evie's pain almost physically hurt Carlos. He hated to see her like that.

"No. You don't." Evie looked away.

"What does it say?"

"I don't want to tell you."

"I'll see it sooner or later."

Mal's voice interjected, "Let him see, E."

Evie slowly, carefully took off the bandages.

He looked at his arm for a long, long time.

"Worthless." The word echoed in his ears, whispering eairily.

"How long have I been out?"

"Days, weeks, I don't know."

Jay walked in the door and was immediately at Carlos's side. "Why the hell are we always finding you bleeding to death nowadays?"

"I didn't do it this time. My mother did."

"Fuck. I am going to kill her."

Evie intervened. "Jay, chill."

"What about the chores? Has someone been doing them?" Carlos looked at them all appologetically.

"Fuck Cruella and her chores," Jay spat.

"You haven't been doing them."

"No."

Carlos felt the fear overtake him. It happened so quickly he couldn't stop it. An image flashed before him of his mother putting out her cigarette on his arm. He gasped.

Evie was at his side in an instant. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm ok." He changed the subject. "Nice artwork, Mal."

"Thanks," she replied, still sitting on her chair, one leg over the armrest. "I'm planning on doing more."

"There's going to be hell to pay when I get back," Carlos announced feeling more and more exhausted by the second.

"You aren't going back," Mal stated firmly.

"Yes, I am," Carlos mumbled, and then he woke up and only Mal was there, spray painting a portrait of the four if them together on one of the walls.

"Hey."

She turned. "Oh hey. You ok?"

"Fine. I like the picture."

She smiled and went to sit by him. "Thanks. I had them model. And you, but you were asleep. Just doing the finishing touches now."

"So you found this place?"

"Yeah. It's kind of hidden but it could use a security system. Think you could make one when you feel better?"

"If Jay can get me the stuff, I could start right now."

"Ok, I'll let him know when he gets back."

"So... she attacked me."

"Yeah. Clearly. And decided to carve up your arm?"

"Yeah..."

"And left you for dead. The bitch."

"Sometimes, I wish she would drop down dead."

"Jay could make that happen." Mal grinned.

"No... I don't want my mother's blood on his hands."

"We need to get off this hell of an island."

"We can't. The barrier..."

"I wish we could. Escape our parents. Hell, if we never see them again I'd be thrilled," Mal spat.

"Hey..."

"They're destroying us. You're left bleeding and half dead because your mother is carving awful words into you, Jay is being used as something less than human, Evie is forced to be anorexic. How much longer until she caves and really becomes anorexic? Hell, maybe she is already. How many more times are we going to try to kill ourselves? What if we succeed? How do we go on?" And she suddenly collapsed, sobbing.

Carlos rubbed her back, trying to be soothing. "Hey. We just need to trust each other more. Maybe we can survive." He felt trapped and suffocated. There was no way off the Isle and no where to go to escape the hell of their lives.

For lack of something better to do, he carefully unwrapped his arm. The cuts, accented by the dried blood, stood out on his pale skin. He cringed at the word that would be with him for the rest of his life.

Worthless.

It was all she was to him.

A worthless puppy with whom she could do what she pleased.

* * *

 **Well... leave a review... and let me know what you think. Thanks!**

 **-FlatFox**


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm back, guys! I promise, I haven't abandoned this story. I was just really stuck for a while. This is a short chapter, compared to the others in this story. Sorry about that. I'm used to writing shorter chapters for Horrors. Next chapter will be longer, I hope.**

 **Be warned... this is very, very... um... awful.**

 **Trigger warnings.**

* * *

Carlos did go back home after much arguing and Mal insisting on Carlos being checked on every few hours.

The moment Carlos stepped in the door, his mother was there. He fingered his knife under his jacket nervously.

"Carlos, dear, where have you been?" Cruella asked him. "I've been worried."

"I was sick," Carlos replied shortly, trying to brush past her quickly.

She put an arm out to stop him. "You be a good boy and do what I tell you," Cruella hissed in Carlos's ear. "Or I'll send a dog after you. And it will tear you open while you're still alive and devour your insides, and you'll be screaming in pain."

Carlos stood frozen, shaking in fear.

She pushed him against a wall.

He couldn't move.

She moved in closer.

And kissed him.

Fingers,

as always,

running through his hair.

He wrenched himself away but she caught him by the arm. He hissed in pain as she drew him back in, her iron-like grip squeezing his arm painfully.

She wrenched his sleeve up to look at the work she had carved into his arm.

"What does this say, dog?" Cruella spat at him.

"Worthless."

"And what are you?"

He didn't want to say it.

Her grip tightened. "What are you?"

He shook his head mutely, knowing full well there would be hell to pay.

She slapped him and he collapsed to the ground. She kicked him several times and then proceeded to tear off his jacket. Carlos wondered vaguely if there was any point in struggling. Maybe she would kill him. Maybe she wouldn't. But it didn't really matter anymore.

When the belt came down on him, he didn't care anymore. He welcomed the pain.

She screamed at him, "WHAT ARE YOU?!" her face red with anger. Again and again the belt came down on him.

And then the beatings stopped and suddenly she was on top of him, pinning him down.

"You are my puppy," she crooned, her face dangerously close to his. He squirmed under her.

She was pinning down his hands, making him unable to keep her at any sort of distance.

She kissed his nose gently, and then his lips.

"My puppy," she whispered, smiling at him.

And then she was running one hand along his side. He shuddered at her touch.

"I've missed you," Cruella pouted.

Even if he had wanted to say something, Carlos could not have replied.

She kissed him again. A longer kiss.

She pulled away slightly. "The dishes need to be done," she whispered in his ear.

She stood.

He lay there, trying desperately not to tremble.

She kicked him. "Get up! There's a list on the safe. I'm going out. You better be done with everything by the time I get back." She paused. "Get me my coat," she ordered coldly.

Carlos stood, shaking, and went to his room and collected the coat.

After he had helped her into it, she ran her fingers through his hair, saying, "Good puppy," and swept through the door.

Carlos collapsed, shaking. He curled into himself, wanting nothing more then to die.

He had no idea how long he sat there, shaking, but eventually he found the strength to stand.

He did not go to the safe. He went to the roof.

And suddenly,

he was standing at the edge.

He looked down.

But would it actually kill him?

Or just leave pain

more pain

in his life.

His whole body ached.

All he needed to do

was just

lean

forward.

Let

go

and

die.

* * *

 **Please leave a review! Reviews inspire me to keep the story going! Thank you so much for being patient.**

 **-FlatFox**


	10. Chapter 10

**And here begins Chapter 10... because I feel like I should have an introduction lol**

* * *

How long he stood on that roof he never knew.

"Carlos?" He heard Mal's voice cut through the heaviness. He did not move.

"Carlos, don't freak out. It's just me. I'm pulling you away from the edge, ok?"

Carlos struggled for a few seconds before blindly letting Mal lead him down.

They sat on his mattress and he curled into her. She did not move to touch him, causing Carlos to feel a rush of gratitude toward her.

They sat, saying nothing.

"Chores," Carlos whispered.

"I'll do them. But first I'm taking you back to the hideout."

Carlos was too exhausted to protest.

"Can you stand?"

He tried, but fell over. He curled up defensively, not wanting to move.

"Carlos, get up. I'll help you if it's ok."

He numbly nodded and took Mal's hand, who pulled him up easily.

"Come on. We need to leave before your mother gets back."

At the hideout, the sight that met their eyes was not a good one. Jay was lying on his stomach on a couch cushion on the floor. Evie was sitting, cross legged, next to him, using a needle and thread to stitch up his back.

Mal hissed angrily at the sight of Jay's back. Carlos collapsed into a chair.

"I am going to murder that fucking shit," Mal spat.

Evie didn't even glance up. "Language, M." She smirked. "Besides, does that even grammatically make sense?"

"I can use swear words wherever the hell I fucking want."

"That's enough, M. Swearing isn't very attractive."

"Besides," Jay interjected, "you're not the one getting a needle poked repeatedly into your already sore back."

Evie glanced up at Carlos. "You look pretty pale, Carlos. What's up?"

Carlos couldn't speak. He sat there, wallowing in his misery, wanting nothing more than to die.

"I found him on the roof. I think he was thinking about killing himself again. Judging by how he's been acting, I'd say Cruella did something pretty bad to him." Mal would be his voice, he knew. She went on, "I have to go do some chores. You good, E?"

"Yeah, go ahead. I'll finish getting Jay patched up and then we'll work on Carlos."

"Carlos?" Jay's voice soothed him slightly. "Hey. What's up?"

Carlos shook his head.

"Please talk for me? You're safe here. She's not going to find you here."

He wanted to talk. But he couldn't find the words. Instead he absentmindedly rolled up his sleeve and traced over the word that had been carved there.

Worthless.

Worthless.

Worthless.

Worthless.

He lost track of how many times he had traced over the word. It beat a rhythm in his head.

Worthless.

Suddenly a calloused hand covered his. "Hey." Jay was done being stitched up but he hadn't even bothered to put his shirt back on yet. He looked extremely concerned. "What's up?"

"You... ok?" Carlos managed to whisper.

"I'm fine. But what about you?"

Carlos looked away. "What do you think."

"What did she do?" Jay whispered.

"She... she," Carlos shook his head despairingly. "She kissed me again. Twice. And," he swallowed, hard, "touched... me."

Evie was at Jay's side in a second. "Don't make any sharp moves or you're going to tear out the stitches and I'll have to redo them," she warned, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Jay took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Evie rubbed a hand on his shoulder, encouragingly. Then she looked to Carlos. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Don't leave me." He tried to fight the growing panic that was clawing up his throat.

"We're not going to leave you," Jay told him reassuringly. He turned to Evie. "Do we have any food in this place?"

Evie whirled out of the room and was back in a minute with food. She set it in front of Jay and Carlos slid to the floor to join him. Jay ate ravenously and Carlos ate a bit of food.

Jay looked up from stuffing food into his face. "Aren't you going to eat?" he asked Evie.

"No, I'm not hungry," Evie sighed, looking at the food longingly.

"Eat," Jay commanded, shoving a not-so-moldy piece of fruit at her.

She nibbled on it and then gagged. "I'm sorry... I can't eat."

"Eat it." Jay was stubborn.

"I can't," Evie cried looking upset. "Why don't you understand?!"

"Hey," Jay pulled Evie to him. "Can you try a little bit more? Please?"

"Maybe bread?" Evie suggested weakly.

Carlos quickly gave her the piece of bread he had been eating and took the fruit to eat instead.

Just as Evie had managed to choke down the piece of bread, Mal stormed into the room looking furious.

* * *

 **Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Reviews are amazing and make me happy :)**

 **-FlatFox**

 **P.S. My story "Jane: The Kiss" is based off Chapter 9 of All's Fair. If you're interested, please go check it out!**


	11. Chapter 11

**It's been a bit, I know, but I have actually been very busy. Surprise, surprise...**

 **Anyway, here is Chapter 11. Chapter 12 is already written and will probably be out tomorrow.**

* * *

"That bitch!" Mal yelled.

Carlos grinned. "That's putting it lightly."

She spun to face him. "Hello, Carlos. Glad to see you're talking again."

"What is it?" Jay asked worriedly.

Mal glanced at Carlos. "You better be sleeping here tonight."

Carlos immediately understood what she meant. The terror crept into his throat. "It's better if I don't put her off," he replied lightly.

Evie looked between him and Mal, confused. "What is going on?"

"What do you need us to do?" Mal asked Carlos, ignoring Evie.

"Come get me in the morning."

"No." Jay growled. "She is not going anywhere near you."

Shane stood next to Carlos, looking down at him disapprovingly. "She's going to hurt you."

Carlos sighed. "Well there's nothing I can do."

Shane thought for a moment. "Run away."

"I can't. We are on an island remember? Why do you have to be so impractical?"

"Sor-ry," Shane replied, looking not the least bit sorry.

Carlos glanced away from Shane over to the others. They all looked as if they had seen a ghost. Mal's mouth hung slightly open.

"Chill you guys," Carlos told them. "This is Shane." He gestured to him. "Shane, this is Mal, Evie, and Jay."

"Tell Shane I say nice to meet him?" Evie asked hesitantly.

"I can hear you!" Shane replied indignantly.

Carlos waited for Evie to reply, but then realized she couldn't hear Shane. "He says he can hear you," he translated.

Evie looked extremely curious, but very unsure. "I'm sorry. Nice to meet you," she began, looking a little to Shane's left.

"They're looking at you like you're crazy. Stop it. Stop it! STOP IT!" Shane screamed.

"Shane, shut up. Mal, please close your mouth so Shane shuts up."

Mal looked taken aback, but closed her mouth. "What is he saying?"

"He's saying to stop looking at me like I'm crazy."

"Damn right," Shane commented.

Carlos glared at him. "That's enough. Where is Ro?"

"Why are you always asking about Ro?" Shane whined.

"Well she's a lot less annoying than you for one thing," Carlos replied.

"Who's Ro?" Evie asked.

Carlos sighed. "She's another one of my people."

"Oh," she replied in a small voice.

And then Shane was gone as quickly as he had come.

The terror broke across Carlos again and suddenly he was almost shaking. "Jay?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you?" He glanced pointedly at Mal and Evie.

"Come on," Mal pulled Evie to her feet and they left the room.

"What's up?" Jay asked worriedly after they had gone.

But Carlos could only shake his head, the terror creeping into him like a huge beast.

Jay sighed. "You can talk to me."

"I'm... scared," he replied quietly.

"Don't go."

"I have to."

"Why."

Carlos could not come up with any reasonable explanation. "I don't know..."

Before he wanted it to, the shadows grew longer and their world became darker.

The sun was setting.

"I have to go," Carlos told the other three, standing to leave.

They all stood with him. Evie walked over to him and asked softly, "Can I hug you?"

Carlos nodded and Evie wrapped her arms around him. He buried his face in her hair, focusing on the smell, hoping a flashback wouldn't hit him.

When Evie pulled away, Carlos turned to Jay, who nodded and pulled him into a hug.

Carlos felt safe for an instant. Like no one could hurt him. But suddenly Jay stiffened and Carlos pulled away, worried. "It's ok," Jay whispered.

Mal was leaning against the door frame and merely put out her hand to him. He took it and they shook hands solemnly.

And then he left. Each step taking him closer to insanity.

When he got to his house, he sneaked in as quietly as possible, hoping against hope that Mal had been wrong.

But he had hardly closed the door before his mother appeared. "There you are," she hissed. "I'm glad Mal gave you my message."

And then she was pulling him

Deeper into the house

Deeper into insanity.

Deeper into doom.

* * *

 **Reviews are always welcome. Please leave one if you think this chapter is worthy of one :)**

 **-FlatFox**

 **P.S. If you're interested, check out my new one-shot called Mirror. It foreshadows something that is about to happen in All's Fair...**


	12. Interlude II: Jay

**I had a very hard time writing this. But here it is...**

* * *

After Carlos had left, Mal sat on the chair and Evie and Jay sat on the couch.

A sorrowful silence filled the room as it grew darker and darker with the coming night.

When the room had gone completely dark, no one had yet spoken. Soon, Mal and Evie drifted off to sleep.

Evie leaned against Jay, comforting him slightly. He listened to her breathing, and his mind wandered, imagining what was happening to Carlos.

He never slept that night.

When the first rays of light seeped through the room, he got up quietly.

Evie's eyes fluttered open, but he put a finger to his lips and she nodded and drifted off again.

Jay slipped away quietly. Prepared for the unknown.

Carlos's house was silent. Deathly silent.

He went straight to the most reasonable place in the house. Cruella's bedroom.

The door was slightly ajar and he pushed it open, wincing at the loud squeak it emitted.

Cruella was no where to be seen.

As Jay's eyes adjusted to the light, Carlos's figure appeared.

He was lying on the floor, completely naked. Judging by how he was lying, Jay guessed he had been shoved off the bed.

He rushed to Carlos but an all too familiar smell hit him and suddenly he was back in an unknown room with too many men surrounding him and no way to escape. With a huge mental effort, Jay wrenched himself back to the present and scooped up Carlos, only then realizing in horror, that Carlos was covered in blood.

"Fuck." A rush of anger came over him but he quickly swallowed it down. He needed to worry about Carlos.

Jay quickly transported Carlos to his room, deftly dodging the bear traps. After covering him with a blanket, he went back for Carlos's clothes, which had been tossed carelessly in the corner of the room.

He took Carlos's shirt and got it wet in the sink before heading back up to Carlos's room.

When he started cleaning the blood off Carlos's motionless body, he realized there was only one cut. It began on his right collarbone and swept all the way down to his left thigh.

If Jay had been able to cry, he would have. The emotions, the worry, the memories were much to painful and had no escape. And so he sat, unseeingly, wiping the blood away.

Beaten down.

Alone.

Suddenly he refocused, noticing something that he had never known had existed. There were scars that had been cut into Carlos previously. Just as horrible as his new one was.

But before Jay could completely take in all the scars, Carlos moaned, startling Jay back to the present. He tried to continue to clean away the blood but Carlos began thrashing about, mumbling incoherently.

Jay knew all too well what he was going through.

"Carlos. Wake up."

Carlos's eyelids fluttered slightly but did not open.

"Carlos," Jay pleaded. "Come on... Wake up."

And suddenly Carlos was wide awake, breathing hard. He quickly sat up, but then fell back again, hissing in pain, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Jay?" he rasped out quietly.

"I'm here. She's gone."

* * *

 **Please let me know what you think.**

 **-FlatFox**


	13. Chapter 13

**I guess this could be considered a high T rating... just so you all know. I'm not good with these ratings, so...**

 **Trigger warnings.**

* * *

Carlos sat in silence with the others, waiting for nothing. He looked at their grim faces, asking himself why they had to suffer like this. His muscles ached. His newest cut throbbing, sending pain through his whole body. He wanted to die.

Mal stood, suddenly, almost startling him. "We need food. Jay, come with me." She looked to Carlos and Evie. "You two hold down the fort."

She strode away to the stairs with long strides. Her walk, as always, was purposeful, like she had somewhere to be. Jay followed close behind. Carlos could hear the two sets of feet descending the stairs, the muffled clanging of their feet marking how far down they traveled so far.

Evie slid onto the couch next to Carlos. Surprising himself, he scooted closer to her, pressing his side against hers, feeling her body heat radiate off her. She gently rested her head on his shoulder.

"Are you ok?" Evie's voice was so soft he could hardly hear it.

"No," he whispered softly, staring straight ahead, not seeing anything. "Never."

In reply, she relaxed into him more, adjusting her head slightly. "What happened?"

Carlos stiffened at the memory. They wanted to drag him back down. "My mother..." he began, but the words caught in his throat. A dry sob escaped him.

"Tell me. It will help."

He didn't want to say it. It was too painful to talk about. Too painful to think about.

"Carlos..."

"She..." He stopped again, unable to get the next word out. "Fuck, why do you have to be so damn annoying sometimes?" he spat, and then grinned, in spite of himself.

She looked up at him and smiled cautiously. "You need to tell me."

Suddenly he threw the words out before he could think. "She raped me."

And then everything came rushing back and Evie was far away, a blurred mirage saying things he couldn't hear and his mother was coming towards him and...

"Carlos!" Evie's voice broke through, clear.

But then she was gone again and there was knife pressing at his skin...

Evie's voice managed to break through again. "Carlos, calm down."

He realized he was breathing much too fast. But he didn't know how to stop. Couldn't stop.

"Breathe in slowly," Evie was telling him. "Now breathe out."

He followed the sound of her voice until he was considerably calmer. He felt her press against him again and leaned into her gratefully, feeling his body becoming less numb. He was safe.

He looked at her. "What about you?"

When she looked up, he noticed the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "When I was eight..." she began. But then looked away again, to the wall in front of them.

Carlos did the same, his eyes running over the sketches and outlines of Mal's unfinished artwork. Sometimes it was easier to talk when they weren't face to face.

"When I was eight, my mother..." She let out a short, harsh, desperate sigh that almost sounded like a sob. "She decided to teach me what sex is."

Carlos's heart dropped. "Fuck her," he whispered fiercely.

Evie pressed into him more deeply. "She said I needed to know." And suddenly she had buried her face in his shoulder and she was sobbing, her body jerking with every sob.

Carlos wrapped his arm around her, holding her, waiting for the sobs to subside. He bit his lip as the sketch in front of him blurred beyond recognition and a tear traced down his face.

Her hand reached for his and he took it, rubbing his thumb gently across her palm. The callouses on her hands were thin, but practical enough.

"Carlos?" Her voice was small and pained.

He twisted slightly to look at her. "Yeah?"

"Tell me about your people."

He sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"When do they talk?"

"Whenever they want to."

"Even when other people are talking?"

"Yeah."

She looked concerned. "Isn't that annoying?"

"Yes." He considered it. Then, "No. I don't know."

"Hmm." Suddenly she switched topics. "How do you feel?"

"Like I want to die." The answer was immediate. He hadn't even thought about it.

"Oh, Carlos..."

"What do we have to live for?"

"We have each other. We keep each other alive."

"No..."

"Maybe we'll even leave this island."

Hopelessness washed over him, filling him with despair. "Why do you hope for something that'll never happen?"

"Because without hope, we're nothing. We have nothing. And we'll die."

Her words hit him deep and he looked away.

Eventually Mal and Jay came back with food. Some stale, slightly moldy cheese and bread; rotting fruit; the usual.

They all sat on the floor around a small cloth they used as their table.

Carlos watched, worriedly, as Evie only picked at her food. "You can do it," he told her, trying to smile.

She half-smiled her thanks, and ventured to eat more. Mal pulled off her jacket and flipped over to her stomach.

"How is everyone doing?"

Jay shifted rather uncomfortably, Evie dropped the food she was trying to eat, and Carlos just glared at Mal.

"Ok," Mal amended. "We all know how Carlos is doing."

"Why don't you say how you're doing," Carlos raised his eyebrows at her.

She huffed out an annoyed sigh and then displayed the inside of her arms, looking pointedly away from everything.

White, raised scars littered her arms and Carlos could pick out a few new ones from the mess.

"Jay?" Mal asked, pulling her arms in toward herself.

He shrugged. "I've kept the shop stocked pretty well, so there haven't been any... punishments lately."

"Jay, tell them." Carlos ordered.

Mal was immediately alert. "What." She demanded.

Jay glared at Carlos. But Carlos merely stared him down, waiting.

* * *

 **Please leave a review :) Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed!**

 **-FlatFox**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! I know, it's been forever, but I've been soooooo busy, plus I haven't really had the motivation to write. But I finally managed to finish a chapter.**

 **By the way, you all didn't need to freak out about the cliffhanger at the end of the last chapter. I have actually mentioned this topic in one of the previous chapters. You all were suffering in suspense for nothing... muahahaha!**

 **Also, a huge thank you to BlueMoon007 for all the help and support! :)**

 **Trigger warnings may apply to this chapter. Also, this also has a fair bit of swearing in it.**

 **And now, back to the story...**

* * *

Under Carlos's stare, Jay growled, but slowly peeled off his gloves.

Mal gasped. "...the hell?! How did we never notice?"

"He never took off his gloves," Evie whispered, looking pale.

The scars looked worse and there were definitely more than last time Carlos had seen his hands.

Mal gently took Jay's hands in her own. Carlos could only notice the scars on Jay's hands so near to Mal's scars on her arms. "Jay," Mal whispered softly.

And Carlos looked away, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to block out everything. Trying to stop the horrible feeling deep inside his chest. It was rising up in him and he couldn't hold out. He was pushing it down. Trying...

"Carlos," her voice whispered. "Ready the knife."

"NOOOO!" he screamed, curling up, trying to block her out. "I won't," he whispered. Trying desperately to block out all sound, barely realizing he was rocking back and forth from the effort. They were all calling his name, trying to...

"Carlos?" This one was different. Focus. Sift through the screams.

Again. "Carlos?" This one, among all the others, the whispers and the yelling, this one was different.

"Can you hear me?"

"Yes," Carlos whispered, hoping desperately this voice was real and wouldn't go away and only come back to torment him.

"It's Jay."

And suddenly Jay's face focused in front of him and his breathing was loud and fast.

"Hey, calm down. You're ok."

"Fuck," he heard Mal whisper. He could hear her stand begin pace the room, back and forth, back and forth.

And suddenly she raced out of the room without a word. Evie swiftly stood, muttering a soft, "Shit," before following Mal out of the room leaving a wisp of her perfume behind her.

Jay sat next to Carlos, waiting. He looked extremely worried.

Soon Evie returned, dragging a very reluctant Mal behind her. Mal's mouth was twisted, hurting Carlos deep in his chest. He knew what that look meant. She was fighting her addiction that had somehow ended up stronger than her.

"Sit." Evie's mouth was drawn into a thin line as she pulled Mal to sit, once again, on the floor. "I don't care what you say," Evie told her fiercely, "but this is not healthy." She sat between Mal and Jay, completing the circle.

"I'm fine," Mal mumbled, looking around and fidgeting. "I can stop whenever I want."

"Could you right now?"

"Well... yeah. I just don't want to."

Carlos looked at Jay.

Jay glanced back at Carlos but then quickly averted his gaze. But it wasn't quick enough for Carlos to miss the guilt piercing through his eyes.

Evie looked around at them. "I know we all have our ways of coping. But this isn't right. We shouldn't be addicted to hurting ourselves to make ourselves feel better. Besides, what are we going to do if we ever go to Auradon?"

Jay scoffed, quietly, causing Carlos to once again glance over at him. But Jay didn't return the gaze.

"Shut it, Jay," Evie glared at him, then continued. "Just imagine, for a second, what it would be like. Over there. With all these scars. Do you think they'd understand?"

"You think that's what they'd worry about?" Mal rolled her eyes in disgust.

"They would view us as freaks, even more so than we already are."

"But how can we cope without the pain?" Jay asked, wrapping his arms lightly around his knees.

"I don't know." Evie looked down at her hands in her lap. "I don't know."

"What are we going to do?" Mal asked softly.

Jay sighed. "Well we can't keep finding Carlos half-dead every other day."

"Hey it's not quite every other day." Carlos nudged him but pain shot through him and he winced ever so slightly. _Damn mother._ "I'm fine."

Evie grinned at him, but the smile missed her eyes. "Because you didn't just have a panic attack." But her eyes were dead serious. Haunting.

"Well..." Carlos sputtered, looking for words. "Details, details." He grinned half-heartedly.

"Hey," Jay looked over at Carlos, finally. "I swiped something for you." He left the room only to return with a television set. "It kind of works. I bet you could fix it, too."

Carlos's head raced with the possibilities. "Let's get it working!" He jumped up, ignoring the stabbing pain, and got to work.

Half an hour later the television was on and working, mostly. They sat in front of it and Carlos fiddled with the dials. Suddenly, a program came through, speaking in a warped fuzzy gibberish. He twisted another dial and everything was clear.

"Look it's the king!" Evie exclaimed as Carlos sat back to examine his work.

"We invite the people of the Isle of the Lost to turn from their wicked ways and become heroes!" The king adjusted his glasses as the crowd of Auradonians watching his speech cheered.

"Bullshit," Mal muttered. Jay smirked.

"I wonder if they're going to show the prince?" Evie gushed, leaning forward. "He's so dreamy..."

"He's a prince, you idiot," Mal snapped.

"I know," Evie replied staring into space dreamily. "Prince... It's a beautiful word, isn't it?"

"Evie, snap out of it. You are not your mother."

She frowned. "Shit," she swore softly, looking down.

Jay reached over and pulled her into a hug. "It's ok," he whispered.

She smiled up at him, her eyes still deep with sadness. "Thanks." Suddenly her whole face brightened slightly. "Hey, I bet the newest Isle newspaper is out. Anyone want to go with me to go get it from Dizzy?"

"I will," Carlos jumped up, trying to ignore the pain. He needed to be outside and get a little exercise.

"Ok," Evie stood and looked down at Mal and Jay. "Don't do anything stupid while we're gone," she told them, the shadow of a smirk crossing her face.

"Come on," Carlos told her, needing to be outside.

"All right, all right. Calm down," Evie told him, following him down the stairs and into the outside world.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading and please let me know what you thought! (Reviews motivate me more than no reviews!)**

 **-FlatFox**


	15. Chapter 15

**I'm back with another chapter already! Thank you to everyone who reviewed :)**

* * *

Carlos had no idea how Evie was walking so fast. She was wearing heals but he still almost had to jog to keep up with her.

As they rounded a corner, a man stood in their way. Carlos immediately reached for his knife but kept it concealed. "Hey, slut," the man nodded at Evie leering at her. "What's your mother charging for you?"

Carlos grabbed Evie's arm and dragged her away as fast as possible, still keeping a hand on his knife. The man was still chuckling as they rounded another corner.

"Creep," Evie spat, looking a bit pale.

"Hey, that's why I'm here," Carlos told her gently, slipping his hand down her arm to hold her hand.

A slight smile crept onto her face. "Careful," Evie told him. "Someone might think you care."

"Someone might think you're happy," Carlos retorted, raising his eyebrows.

She quickly wiped the smile off her face, but squeezed Carlos's hand.

Finally the shop sign was visible: "Curl Up and Dye." Evie pushed open the door, ignoring the "Closed until midnight" sign and entered, pulling Carlos after her. He loosened his grip on her hand, but she still didn't let go.

Together they crept up the stairs to Dizzy's room. They were met with a shriek. "Evie! Hi! Why are you here?!" A small colorful shape launched itself at Evie, jarring her backwards a step.

Evie wrapped one arm around the girl, still keeping her hand in Carlos's. "Hi, Dizzy! How have you been?"

"I'm okay. Are you here for hair? Or newspapers? Or just to talk about clothes!? Oh, hi, Carlos!"

Carlos nodded in reply. "Hello, Dizzy."

Evie laughed a gentle, relaxed laugh. "I'm here for some newspapers. Do you have any?"

"Yeah! How many do you want?"

"Do you have two?"

Dizzy nodded excitedly. "Uh-huh! I have lots!" She hurried over to a broken dresser and opened a drawer, pulling out two of the newspapers. "Here!"

Evie detached herself from Carlos and took the newspapers, quickly handing them both to Carlos so she could pull a handful of semi-broken jewelry out of one of her pockets.

She showed it all to Dizzy. "How does this look?"

Dizzy shook her head, looking at it longingly. "That's way too much! You don't have to pay for them at all."

"I know, but I want to pay you. Here." Evie carefully deposited the jewelry into Dizzy's outstretched hands.

"Thank you so much!" Dizzy squealed, pouring the jewelry onto her work desk. She ran back to hug Evie, but then rushed back over to the jewelry and began looking at it, holding pieces together to see what looked good.

Evie tugged at Carlos's arm. "Come on. She'll be busy for days..." she told him quietly. Carlos tucked the papers into his jacket and followed Evie to the door.

Before she opened the door, Carlos stepped in front of it, cutting her off. "Wait."

She looked at him.

"Are you gonna be okay?" His worry must have shown in his eyes, because Evie crumbled a little.

"I'm okay" she told him reaching out for his hand and hugging it to her. "I'll be okay." Her lips brushed his hand so softly he barely felt it.

"Stay close," Carlos whispered, and they set out again. Too soon, a man reached out toward Evie, but suddenly he drew back with a yell of pain. Suddenly, Carlos realized he had caused the man to retreat. He had drawn his knife, cut the man, and hidden the knife again before he had even realized what he was doing.

It was too long before they finally reached the top of the stairs in their hideout.

They turned the corner into the main room, only to see Mal and Jay standing in the middle of the room. Kissing.

"Oh, hell," Evie whispered, stopping short and yanking Carlos back around the corner.

"What?!" Carlos whispered, slightly annoyed.

"Just let them," she whispered back making a shushing motion.

Carlos sighed in annoyance. "Nothing good ever comes out of kissing anyway."

"Not for us maybe, but for them it's different." Evie looked at him, smiling sadly. "Come on, let's go back down to the landing."

They quietly walked back down the stairs to the landing where they each sat in one of the two chairs.

Carlos pulled out the newspapers and handed one of them to Evie. "Here."

"Thanks." She sat back and began reading.

Carlos looked his newspaper and started to skim the headlines. There was nothing new. Just the usual gossip. He set the newspaper aside and sat, thinking about nothing. Listening absentmindedly to the voices chattering away.

After a bit, Evie glanced over from her newspaper. "Nothing interesting again?"

"No."

"All right, let's go back up and see what's going on."

* * *

 **Please review!**

 **-FlatFox**


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you to BlueMoon007 for all the amazing help and support! (I hope you don't mind terribly, but I borrowed your quilt lol).**

 **Trigger warnings.**

* * *

Carlos picked up his newspaper and followed Evie back upstairs.

"It's clear," she whispered after peeking her head around the corner cautiously.

Carlos followed her into the room. Mal and Jay were sitting on the couch, deep in conversation.

"Hey. We're back." Evie sat on the chair next to them, crossing her ankles gracefully.

Carlos sat on the floor, stretching out his legs and leaning back on his hands. He tossed the newspaper to Mal. "Here."

She caught it, glanced at the front, then laid it aside. "Thanks. I'll read it later."

"So," Evie began, staring down Mal and Jay. "What was that all about?"

Mal's face became angelic. "What was what about?"

"You and Jay... kissing."

"Uh... We were kissing."

"Clearly."

"Anything interesting in the newspaper?" Jay asked Evie, protectively curling an arm around Mal.

"No," Carlos cut in.

"Don't change the subject!" Evie exclaimed, glaring at Jay.

Mal sighed. "Just drop it, E."

They all looked at each other. Some glaring more than others.

Suddenly, Carlos felt suffocated. He needed to get away. He needed to be alone. "I need to go do some cleaning." He jumped up.

"Carlos," Mal told him warningly.

"No, I'll be fine."

"Carlos."

"I'll be fine."

"You said that last time."

"I will be fine, Mal."

"Fifteen minutes and I'm sending someone to check on you."

"Fine." He silently celebrated his success and bounced down the stairs again.

Besides avoiding a pickpocket, the trip was uneventful and soon he was back at his mother's house. Too soon he was standing on the steps looking at the front door, suddenly unable to move.

He was terrified.

Avoiding walking into the house, he walked around to the garage and entered quietly. His eyes adjusted to the dim light and he sighed in relief. The car was gone.

He quietly entered the house, the door squeaking softly. All was silent.

He walked over to the kitchen and looked at the note attached to the safe. It listed several tasks, as usual, in his mother's scrawling hand.

The gloom of the house sunk into him, reaching his bones, causing his body to ache painfully in a way he didn't know was possible.

"Come on, you don't have all day."

The voice came from behind him and he shuddered, whirling around to see Shane standing there. He had his hands on his hips and was looking quite stern.

"Oh, hush."

"No."

"Ugh, you're like an annoying kid."

Shane grinned. Carlos turned his back and read over the list again.

"Worthless!" Shane hovered over Carlos's right shoulder.

"Stop it."

"Worthless!"

"I swear, Shane, if you don't shut up..."

"Death threats will get you nowhere."

"Who's to say I'm threatening to kill you?"

"Who's to say I can't get you to do what I want?"

"Shane, no. Don't." And suddenly his knife was quivering in the wall behind Shane.

Shane looked behind him curiously. "Missed."

"Technically no."

"Technically yes."

"It went through you!"

"So? It didn't stay there."

Carlos shoved him out of the way and yanked the knife out of the wall. "I don't need you in my life."

"That's a shame. Good luck with that."

"Fuck off."

"Oh shut up. This is boring." Shane whirled around dramatically. "Anyway..."

"No."

Shane when on as if he hadn't heard. "I want you to cut yourself." He was gone.

"Shit," Carlos muttered angrily. The idea had been planted in his head and he couldn't shake it. He fingered the knife in his hand gently.

Before he realized it, he had walked up the stairs to his room and was sitting on his mattress. He bit his lip, hoping to make it go away, but all it did was intensify his desire for the pain. Where was somewhere that would be hidden?

He was pulling off his shirt before he realized what was happening. His head was fuzzy, making it hard to think. To move.

He breathed in.

Out.

In.

Out.

In.

And suddenly it was too late and the knife had been drawn across his skin. Once. Twice. Three times.

He froze.

Waiting.

And suddenly the pain flooded his senses and his head tipped back

His brain was numb.

But then the horror at what he had done was slowly seeped though.

Something broke inside his mind.

"Carlos!" Mal was standing in the doorway, looking absolutely horrified.

He gasped, jerking out of the numbness.

"You are coming with me."

"But the chores!"

"Shut up. I don't trust you by yourself anymore."

She pulled him up and he quickly pulled his shirt back over his head. He had really blown it this time.

When they had gotten back to the hideout, Mal pulled him into the main room not too carefully. "Evie. Could you patch him up." She shot Carlos a withering look. "Again."

Evie rose gracefully. "Come on," she told him gently, leading the way to the bedroom.

He followed her and lay down on one of the two beds.

"Where?" Evie asked him, sitting by his side.

Carlos silently removed his shirt and Evie took in the damage.

She left the room, but returned in seconds with some water, a rag, and a bottle of wine.

He watched as she saturated the rag in wine and then gently wiped the rag on his cuts. He hissed in pain as it stung deep within him. Evie looked away, clearly trying not to cry.

Just as Evie was finishing cleaning the cuts, Mal came in looking annoyed. "Time for all of us to go to bed," she told them stiffly, looking everywhere but at Carlos. She swiftly left again without a backward glance.

"Hey, Carlos?"

He turned to see Evie putting the rag in the bucket, her cheeks tinged with pink. "Yeah?"

"This may not be the best time. But I ... made something for you." She picked up a folded blanket off the other bed and handed it to him gently.

Carlos let the blanket fall open and gasped in shock. It was a beautifully-made quilt, made of scraps of red, black, and white fabric. "Evie! You shouldn't have!"

"I wanted to. I did it when you were sleeping for days on end. Well, mostly anyway." She giggled a little nervously. "Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful," Carlos reached for her and pulled her to him, vowing to never let anyone hurt her. She sighed contentedly.

Mal and Jay entered and Mal quickly turned off the light, leaving the room in darkness. Carlos lay back down, pulling his new blanket over himself as Evie sighed a tiny sigh of annoyance and moved to her side of the bed, joining him under their blankets. He could hear Mal and Jay climbing into their bed. Soon, all was silent.

Carlos stared up into the darkness, the pain throbbing with his heartbeat, lulling him to sleep.

* * *

 **So that is that. Leave a review! Make someone happy! (Um...yes that would actually be me...)**

 **Have a wonderful day! :)**

 **-FlatFox**


	17. Chapter 17

**Guys, I'm finally back with another chapter of All's Fair! I hope you enjoy it :)**

* * *

" _Save me! Please! I don't want to die!"_

" _Which poison did you take?"_

" _I don't know."_

" _You need to get it out of your system. Here's a bucket. Go puke into it. You're going to be sick for a few days even if you get most of the poison out."_

Carlos jerked awake. As he sipped into consciousness, he realized Evie was practically on top of him and their legs were so tangled together he barely knew which were his.

"Evie!" he whispered softly. "Evie, get off!" He shoved her gently and she gracefully rolled onto her back. He briefly wondered how anyone could roll gracefully, but then Evie's blue eyelashes fluttered, so he whispered hopefully, "Evie?"

Her eyes opened. "Yeah?"

"I had a dream. I actually remembered it for once."

She was wide awake in a second. "What was it about?" she asked, propping herself up on one elbow.

"Well…" he thought for a second. "Mal was dead. And Uma and Harry had taken the hideout. So you made a bunch of poisons and we each chose one to drink. We drank them together. But they didn't work right away, so we were alive for a little while."

"Then what happened? Did we all die?"

"Nooo…. Well… I'm not sure. But there was this person. I don't know who she was. But she was talking to me and I told her I had taken poison and I was going to die. But at that moment, I decided I desperately wanted to live. No matter how hard life was. Because I knew I was strong enough to make it through. I didn't want to die."

Evie squealed quietly in excitement. "You actually thought that in a dream?! Oh, Carlos, that's so amazing!"

"Why?"

She gave him a look of half exasperation. "Because, dreams are often connected to real life. Sometimes they're your real thoughts. Thoughts you didn't know existed."

"Shut up, you guys," Mal's voice groaned from underneath the other pile of blankets. "It's way too early to be talking."

Evie rolled her eyes and hopped out of bed. "I'm going to go do my makeup for the day," she whispered softly to Carlos. "You can join me if you want."

Carlos snorted softly, but slid out from under the blankets and followed Evie softly out of the room.

Evie entered the bathroom as Carlos grabbed a stool from the main room. He brought it into the bathroom and sat down next to the bathtub, out of the way of Evie.

He watched as Evie opened her drawer of the small, four-drawer dresser, which served as a stand for their sink. She took out her makeup bag and towel and set them next to the bowl they used as a sink that rested on top of the dresser. Evie turned on the faucet, the only part of the actual sink that had survived, and watched the water run into the bowl. When it was half full, she turned off the water and began methodically washing her face.

"You know," Carlos commented, "you're beautiful without your makeup."

She paused, looking into the mosaic-like mirror, searching for his face in the pieces. Her cheeks had gone pink. She drew a shaky, deep breath, as if to say something, but went back to washing her face as if nothing had happened.

Evie unrolled her towel and patted her face with it, before setting it down and carrying sink bowl over to the bathtub. After dumping the water down the tub drain, she set the bowl on the floor.

"You should just get your own makeup table," Carlos told her as she opened her makeup bag. "Then you wouldn't have to move the sink every morning."

"It's not that big of a deal," she replied, setting her lipstick next to her eyeliner. "Besides, it took Jay a long time to find this many pieces of mirror."

"True." He watched her begin to cover her face with makeup. It was the mask she always wore, he thought unhappily. He hated that mask. It covered her true beauty.

He looked down at her bare feet. He always liked when she wasn't wearing shoes. He didn't miss all the nights where she would sigh in relief when she took off her shoes. He didn't miss how she stretched her feet as soon as they were out of her shoes and then limped around the hideout, pretending she wasn't in pain.

Mal stumbled into the bathroom, looking like a wreck. Her hair was practically standing on end. "Carlos, out," she ordered, eyes barely open. "I have to pee."

Carlos stood, sighed, left. Wandering into the kitchen, he looked into a cupboard for any ingredients to make something for breakfast.

Jay slumped in, trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes. "Got any coffee?"

"Do you smell any?" Carlos retorted. "Just chill a minute." He closed the cupboard door and opened another one. Pulling out a pot, he filled it half full with water. He lit the stove and set the pot on it.

Evie made her appearance, looking perfect, as usual. Carlos didn't miss the absence of her shoes. "Need any help?" she asked him.

"Yeah, what should we make? We have practically nothing."

Evie peered into the cupboards. "Peaches and bread?"

"Yeah."

"I have an idea. Could you cut up the peaches?"

Carlos reached into a cupboard and grabbed a knife. "Sure."

Evie handed him the peaches and he began cutting them into chunks.

Meanwhile, Evie checked on the boiling water and then grabbed two mugs off the counter. She poured some water into each of them and then scooped in some coffee grounds, stirring them quickly before handing one cup to Jay.

"Thanks, man, I owe you one," Jay told her. He took a giant gulp of the coffee.

Evie put the pot of water back onto the stove, re-covering the bright orange metal coil. She came up behind Carlos and glanced over his shoulder. "Perfect," she told him.

Behind them, Jay began making choking noises.

"If you didn't drink it when it was practically boiling, you'd be a lot better off," Evie commented lightly, reaching for a knife and beginning to slice the bread into chunks.

When the bread and peaches were cut up, Evie poured some of the hot water from the pot into her cup and some into Carlos's. Then she dumped the peaches and the bread into the remaining water. As Evie stirred the mixture, Carlos pulled out their four bowls.

Mal stumbled in, snatched her cup from the counter, and slumped down next to Jay. Her head hit the table before she had even taken a drink.

Carlos smirked. "Those two are such morning people," he commented to Evie.

"We can hear you," Mal said into the table.

Evie plopped some of the mush into each of their bowls. Carlos grabbed two and headed to the table, Evie following with four spoons and the other two bowls.

The four ate their breakfast in silence.

* * *

 **Please let me know what you thought! Review motivate me to keep writing :)  
**

 **I hope you have an awesome day :)**

 **-FlatFox**


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